It's a whimsical book by Sarah Perry full of watercolor illustrations of scenarios that can pique anybody's imagination: If zebras had stars and stripes … if worms had wheels … if toes were teeth. OK, some are a little creepy.

All of them, though, are sort of freeing.

The book came to mind this week as I listened to Pope Francis become the first in history to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress. At times, the pontiff's lofty counsel seemed as far-fetched as the images in Perry's book.

Listening on the radio, I imagined all those politicians in their suits with their agendas and allegiances being still for a minute to hear the quietly noble message of the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion souls, who chose to preach not about agendas and allegiances but about unity.

I imagined that somewhere, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, himself a Catholic, was listening and weighing the pope's message against politics as he leads a state with the nation's highest uninsured rate, a broken education system and child poverty at 30 percent.

Few in Congress likely agreed with everything the pope said, but he managed to speak of deeply divisive topics - of "open wounds," across the globe, of greed, poverty, the death penalty, the environment, the institution of family - without dividing.

Maybe it was his gentle voice or his deeply accented English that left listeners straining to decipher his meaning - but Americans seemed to hang on the words. Lawmakers interrupted them 30 times with applause.

I wonder how much we heard.

The next day, House Speaker John Boehner resigned from Congress and threats of government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding continued. A video surfaced of the father of U.S. senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on the campaign trail recently celebrating his own righteousness and denouncing as "wicked" Houston voters who elected a homosexual mayor.

Still, the pope's words resonated for many, prompting us to look at the world we live in and ponder, for ourselves, what if...

What if, as the pope suggested, "we, the people of this continent" really weren't fearful of foreigners - in large part, as he said, because "most of us were once foreigners?"

What if the "common good" really was the "chief aim of all politics?"

If so-called values voters included amongst their values the Golden Rule.

If warnings of "fundamentalism" pertained not just to other people's religions, but, as Francis suggested, to our own religions, ideologies and economic systems.

If "simplistic reductionism," as the pope called it, were as sinful as the sins for which "righteous" people condemn the wicked.

If the abortion issue, despite its cynical political currency to both parties, could always be just these 14 words in a 3,300-word speech, "our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development." And if "every stage" included life after birth.

If we fought not only poverty and hunger, but their causes.

If "solidarity" really could be "global."

If the "common good" included Earth, and if its "environmental deterioration" had not only human roots, but human solutions.

If "courage and daring" were "not the same as irresponsibility."

If a speech interrupted 30 times by applause were followed by 30 calls to action.

If people of faith, and everyone else who believes in the promise of this country took a minute to ponder 'if,' and then had the courage to ask when.